ValjeanFreedom is mine. The earth is still.I feel the wind. I breathe again.And the sky clears, the world is waiting.Drink from the pool. How clean the tasteNever forget the years, the waste.Nor forgive them, for what they've done.They are the guilty, everyone.The day begins...And now lets seeWhat this new worldWill do for me!

EmployerYou'll have to goI'll pay you off for the dayCollect your bits and pieces thereAnd be on your way.

ValjeanYou've given me halfWhat the other men get!This handful of tinWouldn't buy my sweat!

LaborerYou broke the lawIt's there for people to seeWhy should you get the sameAs honest men like me?

ValjeanNow I know how freedom feelsThe jail is always at your heelsIt is the lawThis piece of paper in my hand which bids me cast throughout the landIt is the lawLike a curI walk the streetsThe dirt beneath their feet

BishopCome in sir for you are wearyAnd the night is cold out thereThough our lives are very humbleWhat we have we have to shareThere is wine here to revive youThere is bread to make you strongThere's a bed to rest till morningRest from pain and rest from wrong

ValjeanLet me eat my fillI have my lying shareThe silver in his hand cost twice what I had earnedIn all those nineteen years, that lifetime of despairAnd yet he trusted meThe old fool trusted meHe'd done his bit of goodI played the grateful serf, and thanked him like I shouldBut when the house was stillI got up in the nightTook the silverTook my flight!

Constable 1Tell his reverence your story

Constable 2Let us see if he's impressed

Constable 1You were lodging there last night

Constable 2You were the honest Bishop's guest.

Constable 1And then, out of Christian goodness

Constable 2When he learned about your plight

Constable 1You maintain he made a present of this silver -

BishopThat is right.But my friend you left so earlySurely something slipped your mind

You forgot I gave these alsoWould you leave the best behind?So Messieurs you may release himFor this man has spoken trueI commend you for your dutyMay God's blessing go with you.But remember this, my brotherSee in this some higher planYou must use this precious silverTo become an honest manBy the witness of the martyrsBy the Passion and the BloodGod has raised you out of darknessI have bought your soul for God!